Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad,
Inc. (BPRR) filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 C.F.R. pt. 1152 subpart
F–Exempt Abandonments to abandon a 27.6‑mile line of railroad
extending from milepost 8.4 in Orchard Park, in Erie County, N.Y., to milepost
36 in Ashford, in Cattaraugus County, N.Y.Notice of the exemption was served and published in the FederalRegister
on October 6, 2008 (73 Fed. Reg. 58,297).In this decision, the Board is granting the
request by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic
Preservation (NYS Office of Parks) to extend the interim trail use negotiation
period.

By decision and notice of interim
trail use or abandonment (NITU) served on November 4, 2008, the proceeding
was reopened and a 180-day period was authorized for NYS Office of Parks to
negotiate an interim trail use/rail banking agreement with BPRR for the
right-of-way involved in this proceeding pursuant to the National Trails System
Act, 16 U.S.C. § 1247(d) (Trails Act).[1]By a series of decisions, the most recent
served on May 6, 2010, the trail use negotiation
period under the NITU was extended until October 26, 2010.

By letter dated September 28, 2010,
NYS Office of Parks has requested an extension of the NITU negotiating period.In support, NYS Office of Parks states that
the parties do not anticipate being able to consummate an agreement prior to
the expiration date of the trail use negotiation period, but wish to continue
negotiations.By letter dated October 1,
2010, BPRR advises that it agrees to the extension request and, by letter dated
October 18, 2010, BPRR and NYS Office of Parks have clarified that the NITU
extension request is for a 180-day period until April 24, 2011.

Where, as here, the carrier has not
consummated the abandonment at the end of the previously imposed negotiating
period and is willing to continue trail use negotiations, the Board retains
jurisdiction and the NITU negotiating period may be extended.[2]Under the circumstances, further extension of
the negotiating period is warranted.SeeBirt v. STB, 90 F.3d 580, 588-90 (D.C. Cir.
1996); GrantwoodVillage v. MissouriPac. R.R., 95 F.3d 654, 659 (8th Cir.
1996). Accordingly, the NITU negotiating
period will be extended for 180 days from October 26, 2010, to April 24, 2011.

This
decision will not significantly affect either the quality of the human
environment or the conservation of energy resources.

It
is ordered:

1.The NYS Office of Parks’ request to extend
the negotiation period is granted.

2.The negotiating period under the NITU is
extended to April 24, 2011.

3.This decision is effective on its service
date.

By
the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, Director, Office of Proceedings.

[1]In addition to
interim trail use, the November 4, 2008 decision imposed 4 environmental
conditions and a public use condition that expired on May 4, 2009, and that may
not be extended.One of the
environmental conditions was an historic preservation condition, which was
removed by decision served on February 6, 2009.The other 3 environmental conditions remain in effect.